Sphinx Labs — Chief of Staff

Sphinx Labs — Chief of Staff

Type: Full-time | On-site (5 days/week in SF) | San Francisco, CA Compensation: $120,000–$160,000 + 0.05%–0.15% equity Hiring count: 1 Visa sponsorship: None available Reports to: CEO (Alexandre)

About Sphinx Labs

Sphinx builds AI compliance analysts that automate AML, KYC, KYB, and transaction monitoring end-to-end for banks and fintechs — clearing KYB and AML cases in minutes with zero integration or onboarding. The product eliminates ~90% of manual work, cuts compliance costs 4x, and makes onboarding instantaneous. Trusted by leading institutions across the US, Canada, Europe, and LatAm, and the team has won every RFP it has competed in.

Founded: 2024 | Team size: 1–10 | Stage: Seed Industry: FinTech / Compliance / AI Website: sphinxhq.com Office: San Francisco, CA

Why Candidates Should Join

• Direct-to-CEO, real 0-1 ownership: A genuine right-hand seat with a builder-owner growth path — shadow the CEO, then own GTM workstreams, then potentially run a function as the team scales.
• Category-defining product with traction: Compliance AI eliminating ~90% of manual work and cutting costs 4x, trusted by institutions across four regions, with a perfect RFP win record.
• Strong early-career package: $120K–$160K + 0.05%–0.15% equity at Seed, plus paid relocation and one month of temporary housing, office meals, comprehensive healthcare, unlimited PTO, and an annual offsite.

Intake Call Summary

An intake video is posted on the role page but was not transcribed. The points below are the intake-derived signals surfaced in the role body — confirm against the video if needed.

• Alexandre is the hiring principal; he named MIT / Harvard / Berkeley as proxies for the work ethic and structured thinking the seat requires (pedigree stands in for horsepower, not as a hard gate on its own).
• Seat is deliberately generalist: part right-hand-to-CEO, part operator, part future GTM owner — grows into GTM workstreams alongside Dean .
• Expect a heavy mix of unglamorous execution (inbox, calendar, scheduling, follow-ups) and high-leverage strategic projects; comfort with the unglamorous half is a real filter.
• 5 days in person in SF is non-negotiable. No visa sponsorship.

The Role

Sphinx is hiring a Chief of Staff to work directly with the CEO, operate across every function, and make sure nothing falls through the cracks as the team scales — part right-hand-to-CEO, part generalist operator, part future GTM owner. You take what's on the founder's plate and either own it outright or drive it to the point where the only thing left is the decision.

What You'll Be Doing

• Work directly with the CEO across every function: sales, GTM, marketing, product, operations, people, and strategy
• Take ownership of projects on the CEO's plate — drive them to completion or to decision-ready
• Manage the CEO's inbox, calendar, and high-leverage communications
• Lead select strategic projects end to end (product launches, hiring loops, partnership evaluations, internal ops)
• Hop on client calls, attend conferences, contribute to deal cycles
• Help shape the foundation for the teams that come next (marketing, customer success, product)
• Over time, grow into ownership of GTM workstreams alongside Dean

Tech stack: N/A — generalist operator seat, not a technical build role.

Must-Have (role body)

• 0–4 years of total work experience
• Exceptional structured thinking with attention to detail
• Comfort with ambiguity and high-ownership environments
• Strong communicator who articulates tradeoffs clearly
• Top-tier university background (Alexandre named MIT, Harvard, Berkeley as proxies for the work ethic the seat requires)
• Willingness to do both unglamorous execution work (inbox management, scheduling) and high-leverage strategic projects
• Based in or willing to relocate to San Francisco (paid relocation provided)

Nice-to-Have (role body)

• Prior consulting experience (MBB)
• Prior investment banking experience (top-tier)
• Prior venture capital experience
• Prior startup operations or chief of staff role at a Series A or B startup
• Founder background or co-founded a college project
• Quantitative or technical undergrad (engineering, CS, math, economics)

Requirements

• 0-4 years total experience
• Top-tier university preferred (MIT, Harvard, Berkeley, comparable)
• Structured thinker, high attention to detail
• Comfortable with ambiguity and high ownership
• Consulting, IB, VC, or startup ops background welcome

Green Flags

• MBB consultant (McKinsey, BCG, Bain) with 1-3 years tenure, top performer. Direct match for the work ethic and structured thinking Alexandre wants.
• Investment banking analyst at top-tier firm (Goldman, Evercore, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Lazard, Centerview, PJT) with 1-2 years tenure.
• Strategic ops or chief of staff at a top-tier startup with demonstrated 0-1 ownership and direct founder access.
• Top university pedigree (MIT, Harvard, Berkeley, Stanford, Princeton, comparable) paired with builder signal (founded something in college, scrappy internship, hackathon wins).
• Quantitative or technical undergrad with non-technical career trajectory. Signals both analytical depth and breadth.

Red Flags

• Pure manager profile or anyone who has not done IC work in years.
• Big-company lifer without startup adaptation signal or builder instinct.
• Sales background. The seat is generalist execution, not selling.
• Candidates uncomfortable with the unglamorous half of the work (inbox management, scheduling, follow-ups).
• Cannot or will not do 5 days in person in SF.

Role Details

Salary$120,000–$160,000Equity0.05%–0.15%On-site policy5 days/week in person, SF Visa sponsorship None available Employment type Full-time Location San Francisco, CA

Required Candidate Q&A (Contrario submission form)

These are the role's required submission-form fields, not call-only screening questions — no separate screening questions were posted on the role page.

• Are you based in the Bay Area or willing to re-locate?
• LinkedIn Profile
• GitHub Profile

Interview Process

Client-facing rounds (sourcing-funnel stages — Pending Approval, New Lead, Reached Out, Replied, Application Review — precede these):

• Initial Screen
• First Round
• Second Round
• Offer — Offer extended.
• Hired — Candidate accepts and starts.

(No round durations or descriptions were provided on the role page.)

Ideal Companies & Backgrounds

Derived from Contrario's Green Flags — no dedicated Ideal Companies section was posted. Consulting (MBB) — McKinsey, BCG, Bain Investment banking (top-tier) — Goldman Sachs, Evercore, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Lazard, Centerview, PJT Startup strategic ops / chief of staff — top-tier startups with demonstrated 0-1 ownership and direct founder access Universities (work-ethic proxy) — MIT, Harvard, Berkeley, Stanford, Princeton, comparable